Knoxville520.com

This is the first week of SEC play for both the men's and women's teams, so we'd like to dedicate this week of The Monday After to Pat and Bruce, the two dynamic basket-Vol coaches. Ms. Summitt and Mr. Pearl: Woman and Man, Veteran and Newbie, Christian and Jew; you really are the Yin and Yang of our basketball-loving souls. Give balance to our lives, give peace to our hearts, and give us a big fat W everytime we play Florida, goddammit.





And now for our weekly rankings!

The Lady Vols Vs. Alabama at Thompson-Boling Arena

Wednesday night, the basketball Lady Vols mopped the floor with outmatched opponent Alabama. Due to the disparaging talent of the teams, the game was not exciting, but did provide wholesome and fun entertainment. The University of Tennessee Pep Band enthusiastically performed a wide variety of snippets of tunes, including Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train." Time-out and half-time activities were humourous and fast paced. (Watching little kids earnestly work together to try to dunk an oversized soft basketball into an over-sized net, and repeatedly fail, was laugh-out-loud funny.) Reserved tickets are $15 and General Admission tickets are $10. I found paying to park at the lot at the corner of Volunteer and Lake Loudon Blvd., an easy and quick in and out, compared to the mammoth G10 parking lot near the Arena. (3/5) -D.D.

Donald Brown and Friends at Cha Cha

Every Friday and Saturday night, world renowned jazz pianist Donald Brown along with Will Boyd (saxophone), Keith L. Brown (keys), and Kenneth Brown (drums) begin a FREE early show, at approximately 8:40 p.m. during the dinner rush hour at Spanish tapas restaurant and bar, Cha Cha's. This past Friday, the band was joined by special guests: drummer Donald Roby from Memphis, electrifying local jazz and soul singer Kelle Jolly, local trumpet player Pee Jay Alexander, and saxophonist Patrick Langham, the Director of Jazz at the University of Pacific Convervatory and instructor at The Brubeck Institute. While the band's first set was marred by crowd and bar noise, there were delightful moments, like when Boyd and Langham alternated gorgeous solos and played in union on the jazz samba classic "Corcovado." Once the dinner and after work crowd cleared, at approximately 9:45, and was replaced by off-duty restaurant staff and jazz enthusiasts, the dynamic of the venue dramatically changed into a lively and exciting jazz club atmosphere. While not a perfect venue for music, Donald Brown and Friends' are so amazing, you are bound to become a weekend regular at Cha Cha's. (5/5) -D.D.

Slim Movie Pickin's

When you catch yourself frantically trying to decide whether The Holiday or Night at the Museum would be more disappointing to go see, then you know it's time to ditch the movie idea and instead call up some friends, open some wine, and play a drunken game of Scene It.

Drunken Game of Scene It

Drunken Game of Scene It was followed by a Falling Over Schnockered Round of Catchphrase which in turn evolved into See If We Can Make the Passed Out Guy Eat a Dog Biscuit. Sure as hell beat paying $10 to see a crappy movie. (5/5) -J.B.




The Vibraslaps at Preservation Pub

I have a new favorite cover band in Knoxville - The Vibraslaps. Made up of members of The French Broads, Angel & the Love Mongers and another group I can't remember, this little band has a very mature sound, considering they were just recently formed. Last Friday, their extensive and somewhat obscure punk-pop, glam-rock song list had the whole crowd at the Preservation Pub singing and dancing along. As I waited in the long line for the restroom, I was kept occupied by animated (a.k.a. drunken) discussions of, "who sang this originally" and "what the hell's the name of this song, again?". I will definitely be making room in my schedule for a little more Vibra-love. (5/5) -K.S.

Dragons 1976 at Pilot Light

You never quite know what your gonna get at the Pilot Light. You could walk
into anything from gothic-indie-grunge-rock to electronic DJ spins. But
jazz?? Yes, last week I checked out Dragons 1976 an avant-garde jazz trio
from Chicago playing right in our beloved Old City. It was a cold and dead
night in downtown so I was a little surprised to find a good-sized crowd
waiting for the Dragons to come on. Led by alto saxophone, this trio turned
out to be more than the just the honking and squeaking that can characterize
free-jazz - they could actually play. The shrieking balls-out nonsense was
utilized when it was needed, but they exercised great dynamics and seemed to
always to listening to one another. And most importantly I could tell they
were versed in the jazz tradition. Echoes of John Coltrane and Ornette
Coleman told everyone that the Dragons knew where they were coming from.
While I couldn't listen to their type of music everyday, it was a cool and unexpected scene for Knoxville. (3/5) - D.M.




We here at Knoxville520 take both alcohol and basketball addictions seriously. Use caution and moderation. See you next week!